anthology

noun

an·​thol·​o·​gy an-ˈthä-lə-jē 

plural anthologies

1

: a collection of selected literary pieces or passages or works of art or music

an anthology of American poetry

2

: assortment

… an anthology of threadbare clichés of … bistro cuisine …

—Jay Jacobs

anthological

ˌan(t)-thə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

adjective

Synonyms

• compilation

Examples of anthology in a Sentence

an anthology of American poetry

The band will be releasing an anthology of their earlier albums.

Recent Examples on the Web

The actress returned to television in 2017 for the first season of Ryan Murphy's anthology series Feud in the role of Olivia de Havilland. —Karli Bendlin, People.com, 7 Aug. 2025

This anthology series won people over because of its unique approach to detailing the story of love, of depicting romantic comedy as something slower and deeper, as a journey that is far more personal. —Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 5 Aug. 2025

Noah Hawley’s anthology begins each episode with the same dryly ironic declaration that opened its big-screen namesake. —Tanya Melendez, EW.com, 1 Aug. 2025

He can currently be seen in Ryan Murphy’s Hulu anthology series, American Horror Stories, and stars in the Indie film Hold Up, written and directed by Ori Guendelman. —Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 1 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French & New Latin; French anthologie, going back to Middle French, borrowed from New Latin anthologia, borrowed from Greek anthología "gathering of flowers," from anthológos "flower-gathering" (from antho- antho- + -logos, nominal ablaut derivative of légein "to gather, collect") + -ia -ia entry 1 — more at legend

Note: The sense "collection of extracts" is found earlier in the parallel formation anthológion, attested in Byzantine Greek.

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for anthology

• apology
• astrology
• biology
• christology
• chronology
• conchology
• cosmology
• cryptology
• cytology
• doxology
• ecology
• ethnology

Kids Definition

anthology

noun

an·​thol·​o·​gy an-ˈthäl-ə-jē 

plural anthologies

: a collection of literary pieces

anthologist

-jəst

noun